


Who's Helping Who Now?

by soul_droid



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Glynda functions as a therapist, Glynda is very persistent, Guess SOMEBODY'S gotta be first!, I'm seriously the first person to post a story about Ruby and Glynda bonding, Okay!, Ruby functions as a habitual repressor, She'll play this game as long as Ruby will, This is it huh?, also, in any way that isn't romantic or sexual?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-07-21 02:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16151054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soul_droid/pseuds/soul_droid
Summary: Glynda Goodwitch gets the chance to ask Ruby Rose a question about the girl's thought process that she's wanted to ask for a while. Ruby is not quite open to the idea.Glynda understands that psychoanalysis is from time-to-time... unpleasant.





	1. Progression Begins With a Single Step

It wasn’t particularly quiet when he said it. Right at the beginning of the first day of class, when the students were making their way in, the voice of Cardin Winchester was heard making one of his usual unsolicited and unappreciated derogatory remarks.

“You see that Asian chick with the cape? Didn’t know they let babies in the school.” Well, it was unappreciated by some, but apparently his friends found it funny enough. Ms. Ruby Rose, however, just felt... well... small... Perhaps Glynda Goodwitch should have done something at that point, but it simply didn’t register in her mind as something that would have affected Ruby so much. Of course she’s mentally kicking herself for that now, but hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.

 

The most recent instance Glynda had been aware of was about a week later. By this point, the students all had assigned seats, and if one paid attention, they knew where to find one of the others. Cardin and his cronies were apparently that type. Or at least someone was, and they found an unimaginative joke to be humorous. As everyone made their way to their seats, Ruby had stopped in her tracks at the sight of a feeding bottle on her desk along with a bib with the words “I love my mama” written on the front with a heart instead of the word “love”.

From one Yang Xiao Long the words escaped “Oh, so you think this is funny, Winchester!?”

“Me? What did I do?”

“Don’t give me that shit! A fucking bottle!?”

“Hey, if she can use it, then by all means, use it. Or wait, I guess she’s too young; give it to your mom and tell her it was a present. Not from me, of course.”

It was time to defuse this situation now before it got any worse. Glynda cleared her throat and said “While the feeding bottle may not be a present from _you_ , your punishment is a present you can connect directly to _me_.”

“What the shit!? I didn’t do anything!”

“I’m not an idiot, Winchester. Now, Ms. Xiao Long, please try to calm down. And Ruby... Can I talk to you after class?” She added a bit more tenderly.

...

“... Huh? Uh, y-yeah...” That had been the first thing Ruby said all class period long, and much after Glynda had taken the ridiculous bottle and bib teasing implements into her possession, it was still about the last thing Ruby said for the rest of the class.

This being an alarm in her head, Glynda decided to call Ruby aside for a talk after class was over.

 

\--

 

“Ruby?” Glynda said, taking care to refer to her by her first name.

“Um... If this is about the bottle, don’t worry, it’s—it’s fine.”

There it is. There it is again. Ruby had this bad habit of repressing all of her feelings that might be considered negative. It came with the territory of being a people pleaser, Glynda supposed. “... You know, Ruby, bullying isn’t something to take lightly, and, well... to be honest, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this for a while.”

“I’m fine, I’m not getting bullied or anything!”

“Ruby, they constantly call you a baby.”

“Y-yeah, it’s just a little pet name, y’know? Like a term of endearment.”

... Okay, Glynda. Lead by example. “You know, when I was your age, I had this awful, unimaginative, ridiculous nickname that followed me wherever I went. They heard my name ‘Goodwitch’, and thankfully didn’t decide to call me ‘Badwitch’, but what they came up with wasn’t much better. I went through middle school, and all of the academy being called ‘Sandwich’. I’d be in debates and I’d go to rallies and other public venues to speak, and without fail, I’d see someone hold up a sign with a sandwich on it. They’d tease me about my name, about my demeanor, and even about my accent.”

“Your accent?”

“Oh, you can’t hear it now because of years of practice due to practicality and insecurities, but back when I was younger, I had the thickest Nelmian accent.”

“Nelmia?”

“Little country over in the southwest corner of Anima. Nobody talks about it very much because we have little to offer aside from oranges, and a ridiculously complicated language that I have the privilege of having to remember just so I can call my mother every month. Anyway, Ruby, many people have been bullied, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“...” Ruby looks down at the ground, and then, after a pause, looks back up at Glynda. “... Ms. Goodwitch? You, um... you didn’t want me to come to this school, did you?”

“... To be honest, Ruby? No, I didn’t. I’ve never been the biggest proponent of skipping grades. There’s a lot of social growth to be had around people your own age, and aside from that, there’s the knowledge you have to catch up on, since while you may be talented, the curriculum is rough and uncaring, and expects you to have gone through the same things as the other kids.”

“I see... Yeah, that makes sense...”

“However, after observing you for some time, I believe you may be more the exception to the rule.”

“Really?”

“Indeed. You’ve done an admirable job of keeping up with your grades, and even with making friends. A better job at that second one than a Nelmian teacher of yours.”

“Heh... S-so, um... If I were being bullied... how would I stop that?”

“Hm... Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer for that. In some cases, you just can’t.”

“Oh...”

“Of course, there are certain schools of thought that say success is the best revenge.”

“But the giant Nevermore my team took down!”

“I know, and it’s unfair that he treats you this way. What I can say is that... You shouldn’t get petty about it.” And at this point, strangely enough, Glynda began to smile “Even though it feels pretty good. I’ll tell you a story that I maybe shouldn’t tell you within the context of the lesson I’m trying to teach. After I’d graduated from Beacon and I was making a good living hunting grimm, I managed to save up a decent amount of money.”

“You used to hunt actively?”

“Oh, I still do. It’s just that now it’s more of what I do when school’s out for summer vacation. Anyway, not to brag, but I’d gained a certain amount of affluence. One day, I’d heard word that one of my old bullies was less fortunate than I‘d been, and she was working at a sandwich shop. The job market’s a bitch sometimes.” She said, unintentionally getting perhaps a bit too casual when speaking to one of her students “Well, I think you can see where this is going. I thought back on those four years of torture she put me through, and all my ability to take the high road left me in an instant. I put on my best silver slippers, and a nice little over-expensive suit I’d bought on a splurge recently, and I made my way down to the sandwich shop she worked at after I ascertained when she’d be at work. I came up to her, and I saw the look of suspicion on her face, since we hadn’t seen each other in years, but I could tell, the wheels in her head were already turning, and she already pretty much figured who I was. So, I ordered a sandwich. I paid for it on my card, and as part of the procedure, they have to ask your name, so they can call you when your sandwich is ready. I told her “It’s Goodwitch. Oh, but if it’s easier, you can call me Sandwich, since I know you’re more used to referring to me by that name.” And the look on her face when the truth was confirmed for her was priceless!” Glynda took the moment to revel for a bit before continuing. “Anyway, what I’m saying is you shouldn’t be petty, because that was awful of me.”

“You seem to still enjoy it though.”

“I’m not training you to be me, I’m training you to be better than me.”

“Oookay...”

“Good, I’m glad we got that sorted out. But, Ruby, please... If you ever need someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to come to me. I know I come off as stern and a bit difficult to talk to, and that’s... mostly because it’s true. But I’m only so stern because I care about you all. I want you to grow up to be capable combatants, and also well-adjusted adults.”

“I understand.”

“If you say so. But Ruby, I’m actually glad you brought up how early you enlisted in Beacon, because there’s a question I wanted to ask you... Why did you enter this academy?”

“Hm? Oh, well that’s because... I grew up with kind of this idea in my head. I want to help change the world for the better! I mean, if I can get rid of grimm and save people’s lives – if I can take back dangerous areas for the people of the world to feel safe in again... then I can live satisfied.”

“I see. And that’s a very admirable goal. Personally, while I don’t have anything against it, I wish more people were at this school for those reasons instead of the fact that hunters get paid well. But Ruby... There are plenty of schools you could have enrolled in. Why this one?”

“W-well, it... it had to be _one_ of them!” She remarks, smiling nervously

‘ _The poor girl’s a terrible liar._ ’ “Ruby... I just can’t bring myself to find it a coincidence that you’d choose to study in particular at your mother’s alma mater.”

“I-I mean my dad went here, too...”

“That’s very true, but none of your official documentation says ‘Ruby Xiao Long’.”

“Wait, but what does this have to do with me being bullied?”

“The fact that you can’t answer this question has everything to do with it. You’re afraid to assert yourself, Ruby. Why?

“That... I... W-what I mean is... I... Ms. Goodwitch, I really have to go – I have a lot of homework to get to!” And without waiting for a response, she ran off as fast as she could, leaving Glynda to sigh

“I suppose I came on a little strong. She’s a student, Glynda, not an opponent...”


	2. A Hint of Dishonesty

Hearing a knock at her door before school hours usually signaled one thing to Ruby: Nora didn’t do her homework.

“Weiss is asleep!” Ruby says at just high enough a volume to reach Nora on the other side of the door, as a very much awake Weiss silently thanked Ruby, who knew damn well how much of a lie that was.

From the other side, however, came the voice of one Glynda Goodwitch “Well, I’d hardly want to wake her up, but it’s actually you I’m here for, Ruby.”

Ruby froze in place. It had been three days since Glynda’s... overly personal inquiry... And Ruby was dreading the day Professor Goodwitch decided to try again. Today appeared to be that day. “Uh... I don’t... have any pants on?”

‘ _Please, I’m begging you; you have to get better at lying._ ’

Unfortunately for Ruby, this was just pitiful enough for Yang to decide enough was enough, which was really sad considering that only three sentences had been spoken up to that point. She got out of bed, walked over to the door, and opened it up “Oh look, she used her super speed to put some pants on.” Yang ‘explains’ as Ruby gives her a look somewhere between hatred and hurt.

‘ _Make that ‘better at lying under pressure’, I suppose. Ms. Schnee is clearly awake._ ’ Glynda looks at Yang “Are you sure you won’t get a penalty for this?”

“Pshh, Ruby doesn’t give penalties.”

“... I see... Well, Ms. Rose-- Ruby... I was wondering if we could take a quick walk around campus?”

Ruby jitters “Oh, um, see, I actually have s-some homework to finish--”

Weiss, ungrateful bastard she is, betrays Ruby’s trust and willingness to lie for her personal comfort, explains that “You finished your homework last night. I fact checked it and everything.”

“I... have special classes, remember? Just for team leaders.”

Glynda, getting a bit concerned about how many barriers Ruby could put up when she felt her life depended on it, spoke up “I’ll give you in particular an extra day to turn it in then.”

“...” She was out of excuses. She had to face the music. “Okay...”

 

\--

 

As Ruby made her way down the halls with Glynda, she took the initiative in the conversation, in the vain hopes that maybe things were different than she thought “... So... Ms. Goodwitch... What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Exactly what you think I want to.”

“Oh... L-look, I realize it’s kinda coincidental that I came to the same school my mom went to, but well,  I guess when I get right down to it, I figured this one would be good because I know so many people who went here!”

“That’s entirely reasonable. But Ruby, before we get into that, I wanted to apologize for my behavior three days ago.”

“... Huh?”

“I was a bit aggressive. But it’s only because I care about you. However, we need to talk about something aside from your school choice. Just now, two of your teammates betrayed you, and acted in ways that were opposed to your ideals. Ruby, this goes right back to what I was talking about earlier about how you’re afraid to assert yourself.”

“...”

“I realize I don’t exactly have the biggest circle of friends in the world, but as someone with a fiancée, I’m at least a bit qualified to talk to you about social interaction.”

‘ _She has a what?_ ’

“You seem to be very good friends with Team JNPR.”

“Yeah. They’re pretty cool and down to Earth.”

"True... But the only friends you have are team JNPR. It’s not exactly inspiring that your level of social interaction is limited to the people directly across the hall from you. I reached out to your uncle to ask him about what things were like for you at Signal, and to be honest, his reports concerned me. Frequent teasing, and isolationist behavior. Your only friend was a girl who was friends with ‘basically everybody’, as he put it.”

“Okay, but the name-calling wasn’t that bad. It even rhymed.”

“You enjoy being called ‘Ruby-Dooby No-Boobies’?”

“No, but...”

“All the same, however, the area of interaction you excel at is positive reinforcement. I’ve heard stories from Mr. Arc of Team JNPR, and from your uncle again about your time at Signal. You seem to be very good at lifting people’s spirits. How is it you’ve managed that, Ms. Rose?”

“I dunno... I just sorta see somebody sad, and then I go on autopilot.”

“That sounds like a practiced behavior.” Glynda recalls a conversation she had with Yang just yesterday

 

\--

“If you could tell me... what was Ruby like when... When Summer passed?”

“Oh, wow... I mean... At the time I wasn’t really thinking about it, but as time went on... I started thinking about how... how amazing she was. She just like went into superhero mode, y’know? Dad and I were pretty broken up about it. We’d lost a lot of motivation, and we were really falling into a slump. Part of me wonders if Ruby just didn’t remember that much about mom, or... Or if she just understood her a lot better than we thought... She was always there to pat a hand on our backs; to give a hug or a smile, no matter how painful it was to do it... Even there to try and bake the cookies mom used to make, not that that turned out very well... Ruby was... She was our rock. It’s kind of embarrassing to say that considering she was the youngest, but hey, she was there when we needed it. She was always willing to help out people who were down... And I guess that part of her just never changed, y’know?”

“I see. That truly is admirable... Thank you, Ms. Xiao Long. That was very important information.”

 

\--

 

Coming out of her memories, Glynda continues “You’re amazing at offering help, Ruby... But you’re failing at all other forms of social interaction.”

“Um—”

“Understand that this is coming from someone else who is terrible at social interaction. What I want is for you to not make the same mistakes I did.”

“And this has to do with assertiveness?”

“It does. Do you understand that being assertive isn’t just forcing your will upon others? It’s also just joining a conversation, or initiating one whether or not you know the person on the other end will be interested.”

“So I become more assertive, punish Yang and Weiss, and then what?”

“And then you stand up to those bullies of yours.”

“...”

“I talked about you not making my mistakes, but I also want to help you succeed where I went right.”

“You’re talking about so many things at once, though!”

“I apologize that I didn’t have a lesson plan for this. But please, I’m zeroing in on a point. I think the issue here is that you’ve spent your life trying to help others, and now that you don’t need to do that as much, you’re having trouble allowing yourself to want things.”

“Huh? But I want things all the time! Like food, or to graduate, or, or... I dunno... money?”

“Food and money. Those are basic desires that everyone holds. Your most tangible, personal goal is graduation. Ruby, work with me here. Isn’t there anything that you want that’s not for other people’s benefit?”

“...” Ruby stayed silent, shifting slightly uneasily.

“You thought of something, didn’t you? But you’re not comfortable telling me.”

“...”

Glynda sighs, and says “Look, I’m just glad you’re not running away.”

The school bell rings

She continues “Listen, Ruby, you have to understand something: Wanting things doesn’t make you a bad person. It just makes you human. We all want things in life, and going after them gives us purpose and direction. Trust me, if you spend your whole life just being in service of others, their lives, and their desires, then you are going to spend yourself quickly. Your sister described you as going into “superhero mode” once when I was talking to her. Do you know why superheroes have secret identities? It’s because beneath all the superpowers and the bravado and the costumes, they’re still human. They have their mental limits, if not physical ones. Eventually, if they just spent their lives doing heroics, they would snap from all the pressure. They need separate lives that are just meant to tend to them as individuals and make them feel happy, and those are their secret identities... Ruby... Remember your secret identity, okay? Now, you need to get to class.”

“I gue--” She was going to finish the word “guess”, but she got cut off by a particularly energetic and slightly short teacher, who pranced her way over to the two of them, going

“Oh, Glynda, there you are!” Before giving Glynda a good fat kiss on the cheek “Listen, I’m gonna need you to pick somethings up before you get home tonight, and also I’ll be a little bit late, okay? There were some... _eyaccidents_ in the greenhouse, and I volunteered to help clean them up.”

Ruby was knocked for about five loops in a row, so she kinda missed another occurrence of Professor Peach adding ‘y’s to words that just plain didn’t have them.

Glynda, with a look of resignation and amusement, replies “Fine, fine, just text me after school.”

“Thyanks honey! Oh, hey, it’s Ruby! Ready for class?” Peach asks with a grin that’s just a bit bigger than you’d think a human being could actually muster as she grabs Ruby by the wrist and excitedly starts walking with the one kid in the school who can keep up with her “I’ve got some good things planned!”

Ruby manages to speak “Does ‘good’ mean barely approved by the board?”

“What do _they_ know?” She says, quickly showing why she was a bit of a polarizing teacher. Ruby, on the other hand, stopped paying attention, as she noticed something.

‘ _Wait a minute... If she’s Professor Goodwitch’s fiancée... why don’t either of them wear an engagement ring?_ ’

 

\--

 

As class tied up, and the students trudged their way out of Professor Peach’s Death House as they called her classroom, Ruby decided to do what she does best: Look into other people’s affairs ‘ _Okay, probably a bad word to use in the context of a romantic relationship, but work with me._ ’ She says, directly addressing the audience. Standing up and walking down to the desk, she begins “Um, Professor Peach?”

“Call me Dinah, Ruby. Wait, this isn’t you trying to convince me about that trash waifu of yours again, is it? HAHAHAHAHA, I’m just kyidding! So, what’s up?” Another tendency that got on people’s nerves: Borderline weeb (Though she is quick to point out, it doesn't count, since she's from Kuchinashi).

“Oh, it’s nothing, it’s just... You and Professor Goodwitch, huh?”

“Yep! A lot of people get surprised about that! Then again, we’re just about the two most hated teachers in the school, so some of them just get really scared!” She adds, grinning yet again as she starts laughing really loudly. “Y’know, I remember when we first met! You know what my first words to her were? ‘Hey, pretty mama. Howzabout we go see a movie after this is over?”

“Wow, and that was it, huh?”

“She just looked me dead in the eye, didn’t blink once, and said... ‘No.’ And that was the whole conversation! Then she became my team leader, yadda yadda yadda, five years later, we’re dating!”

‘ _YOU CAN’T ‘YADDA YADDA’ FIVE YEARS!_ ’ “W-wow!” She exclaimed at the mile Peach took from the inch Ruby gave her “So, I was just wondering, um... When do you think you two might be, y’know, tying the knot?”

“Ohhh, now that’s what I’ve been wondering myself for a while. Truth be told, I kinda want her to be the one to ask, y’know? I mean, I’m generally the initiator, so I don’t wanna pressure her into something she doesn’t want to do.”

“Well, I’m sure she’s gonna do it any day now!”

“Fingers crossed! But don’t sit here all day, or I’ll get it from your other professors. Agyen. HAHAHAHAHA!!” She finishes, loudly laughing at something that was only vaguely amusing at best.

“Right! Well, I’ll see you later, Pr—I mean, Dinah!”

“PEACE!”

So Ruby ran off with some questions of her own to ask Glynda next time the two of them talked.

‘ _Wait, Goodwitch doesn’t live on campus?_ ’ Ruby just now notes, so that you all can’t ask me about it in the comments like I just messed up something about continuity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right! We here at Soul Droid Enterprises work on the "you can't prove it's not true" principle, and Glynda's lodgings have never been shown! She was shown at the school late at night on like two occasions, and there were reasons for her to still be at work that late. Plus, it would explain why she was out in the middle of town during the first episode! Which was also late at night. 
> 
> Glynda has a habit of staying late, it seems.
> 
> Hey there, Peach-lovers! I bet you're wondering why Professor Peach's first name is "Dinah" in this story! Well, y'see, it's a pun. Take a look at this:
> 
> 大なピーチ
> 
> Romanized, that says (regardless of what Google Translate thinks I want it to say) "Dai na peechi" Notice the first part? How it  
> sounds exactly like Dinah? See, dai na peechi in English translates to "giant peach".
> 
> It's a James and the Giant Peach joke! There's some useless information to just sorta clutter up your brains!
> 
> Now, some of you are saying "But Soul Droid, you don't add the "na". Just look at words like "daibouken" or "daijiken", and you'll see that! It's an "i" adjective, Soul Droid, and you never took Japanese, you took Chinese, so you have no business making Japanese puns!" And you'd be correct!
> 
> But then there'd be no pun.
> 
> And that's awful.
> 
> Worse comes to worst, just take solace in the "dai" and the "peach".


	3. A Heart to Heart Between Two Introverts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake hasn't talked in this story yet.

3AM was hardly the time for critical thinking, but Blake had a tendency to let her mind wander, and Ruby happened to not only be a good listener, but also the only other person in the dorm who would actually stay up for that long.

“Hey, Ruby?” She asked from her bunk, putting down a monotonous, underproduced game she was playing on her scroll.

“Yeah?” Ruby asks, looking away from a poorly researched, yet passionately-worded article about things she’d probably never talk to people  about.

“... What are you afraid of?”

“... Huh?”

“I realize it’s a weird question to ask in the dead of the night, but... No, never mind.”

“No, come on, Blake! I wanna hear what you have to say! Okay, um... I’m pretty afraid of people hearing me sing.”

“Really? Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you belt out even one note.”

“Yeah, I’m um... I’m actually pretty tone deaf... It’s really embarrassing...”

“Noted. But that’s not really what I’m talking about... Do you worry about offending people?”

“Well... Yeah. I’m not sure of too many people who aren’t. ‘Cept, maybe Yang sometimes, but even she tends to keep the worst stuff to herself unless you’ve wronged her.”

“I... see...”

“Are you not?”

“It’s not that... It’s just that... sometimes, I think you worry about it a little too much.”

“...”

“A little bit of advice from someone who’s lived with leaders all her life: It sucks, but you’re not here to be our friend. You’re here to keep us alive. And sometimes? Not even that. I never really wanted to be in a position of leadership, and it’s partially because you have to make choices like that. But always remember that in the end, we’ll always care about you.”

“... Wasn’t that a little contradictory?”

“Life’s contradictory. I guess what I mean is we understand what goes into making decisions we maybe won’t want to hear, y’know? And that you aren’t trying to be mean to us.”

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to deal with Weiss.”

“... Weiss is my friend, and I enjoy spending time around her. Remember that when I say this next part: She needs to suck it up.”

“Hahahaha! Oh, you have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to say that to her.”

‘ _What?_ ’ Now this was a side of Ruby Blake didn’t think existed. ‘ _Haven’t seen her get angry for personal reasons since that day we first met and she got into a fistfight with Yang for embarrassing her. Nice to see it every once in a while._ ’ “Well, you _should_ tell her that. Tell ya what: As someone who has experience with group dynamics, I can function as a second-in-command.”

“I thought Weiss was my partner.”

“Can you honestly tell me you know what that means? Because I don’t. What the hell do partners in teams of two even mean when we’re all in a group of four, responding to the will of one?”

“I try not to think about it.”

“Right? Anyway, if you say something unpopular, and the group gets uppity about it, I promise I’ll be there to stick up for you.”

“...” Ruby said nothing, but a smile spread across her face as a bit of a weight was lifted from her shoulders. She understood that eventually, she was going to have to start saying and doing things that would be met with anger and resistance, even if it was actually for the best. Thankfully, Blake would be there to take that scorn with her now.

“Provided I actually agree with you, anyway.”

“Heheh... Then I’ll just run all my ideas by you first so I know you won’t throw me under the bus!”

“You joke, but that’s how leadership works!”

“Cool! My first order is that we should get to sleep. I messed up my circadian rhythm once in middle school, and that was an ordeal to fix...”

“Well, I’d kinda like to hear that story, but I guess it can wait. Goodnight, Ruby.”

“Good morning, Blake.”

“Smartass.”

“Actually, it's ‘ _bad_  ass’.”

“Not, _big_ ass~?” Blake asks, complete with an eyebrow wiggle she knows Ruby can’t see.

“Okay, sleep, now!”


	4. The More Things Change...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What defines us is not how we deal with the expected, but what we do when blindsided.

There was so much that was supposed to happen. Ruby and Blake were supposed to start working together on a plan to get the team to new heights. Ruby was supposed to ask Professor Goodwitch about her fiancée. Ruby was supposed to get around to properly answering Glynda’s question about any personal things she might have liked.

Of course, before any of those things happened, they had to get through the thing that was keeping all their attention: The Vytal Tournament. What began as a simple festival for schools to come together and test their skills in unfamiliar settings against opponents they had to learn to deal with for the first time... ended in tragedy. Friends were lost. The academy was destroyed. Every aspect of every life was thrown into disarray.

But that was a good while ago. Starting to pick up the pieces, starting move forward, we collect ourselves. We live.

We get a phone call, apparently.

“For me?” Ruby asks, sitting at a diner with her friends and her uncle.

“Ruby.” Qrow warns “Did you tell anybody where you were at any point during this journey?”

“Well...” Ruby looks over at her older sister, also staring in apprehension. “I wrote a letter to Yang once. Unless she forwarded it to anybody, the only people I see knowing where I am are like parcel people, and even that was a while ago.”

“Uh-huh... Just be careful what you say on that call. And don’t wander off too far.”

“I got it.” Ruby walks over to the phone on the other side of the diner, and she takes the call. “... Hello?”

“Ruby! Okay, so I apo—”

“GLYNDA!!!”

From over at a table, we hear them shout “Glynda!?”

“YOU GUYS IT’S GLYNDA!!”

Yang shouts “I swear to fuck, if she’s calling to try and get us to do the homework we missed, I’m gonna shit in her shoes!”

“Actually,” Glynda notes “The fall of Beacon destroyed our computers. Due to that, and other reasons, we’ve the new headmistress has decided to auto-pass everyone to second year.”

“Headmistress!?”

Ozpin jokingly shouts “Says who?”

Ruby facepalms and says “Okay, we’re shouting in a restaurant right now, so I’m going to need you to call Uncle Qrow, and we can talk about this in a few minutes. If you could give us some time to get back to  our hotel, that’d be great.”

“The shouting wasn’t my idea. But indeed. I’ll call you back in about 20 minutes?”

“Sounds fine. And Glynda? It was really great to hear your voice again.”

“Likewise.”

 

\--

 

When everyone got back to a place they could sit down and talk, Ruby bounced with anticipation to hear from her old teacher again. On exactly the twenty minute mark, Qrow Branwen’s  scroll went off, signifying a call from Glynda Goodwitch

“Hey!” Ruby derides Qrow “Why do you have Glynda down as “Wicked Witch” in your directory?”

“Ah, lighten up, kid, it’s just a little fun.” He answers the call “Wassup, Witchy baby?” Silence went by as Qrow decided to not put the scroll on speaker. “Oh wow. That promotion hasn’t softened that sharp tongue, huh? Hold on I’m puttin’ ya on speaker now.” He puts the scroll down in the middle of the table “Go on ahead.”

“Well, for one thing, I know you, Ruby, and Yang are there, but who else?”

“Weiss, Jaune, Nora, Ren--”

“And the headmaster who never got a notice of termination.”

Now, it was odd that Ozpin would just put this out there, as if Glynda was expected to roll with it. What was more odd, or perhaps less, paradoxically, was when Glynda did just that.

“You can’t die and keep your job, Ozpin.”

“See, now I disagree, because some of those teachers died just a bit every time they walked in for work in the morning.”

“Wait a minute!” Ruby so rightfully exclaims “You’re not surprised that Ozpin’s here!?”

“I’ve known the man for a long time, and done favors for him he can’t even begin to repay. I happened to be made privy to a secret or two of his from time-to-time.”

“Wow. Still, I can’t believe I’m talking to you here! There are so many things I want to tell you! So many things I want to ask you! I mean, how are things with you and Professor Peach for instance!?”

“Dinah is quite well, and quite “glyad” to be alive.”

Ozpin muses “I _do_ miss that speech pattern.”

Qrow, Yang, Weiss, Jaune, Nora, and even ya boy Ren counter that point with a unanimous “I don’t.”

Smile evident in her voice, Glynda continues “She says she’s learned to appreciate the things we have in life, and she’s going to live with renewed vigor now. She’s taken up yoga, which means that I’ve taken up hearing about yoga. Every day. Other than that, the promotion, and some board meetings, it’s just Grimm every day.”

Shaking her head in displeasure, Yang identifies with the statement “Big fuckin’ mood.”

“Eloquent as fuck, Yang.”

In about four words, Glynda managed to make Yang completely distraught and uncomfortable “Did Professor Goodwitch just say “fuck”? And call me by my first name?”

“I’m not on the clock, Yang. And not on the clock, I’m a different animal entirely. So, Ruby, how are you holding up?”

Realizing it was her time to chime in, but also realizing what this was that Glynda was getting back to, Ruby responded “I’m okay. I’m making it, at least!”

‘ _Hmm. A less guarded response than I’d anticipated. Good._ ’ “Well, I’m quite glad to hear that! I can call back later and ask this, but... have you had any personal  dvelopments?

“Well...”

“You said you had some questions you wanted to ask me?”

“Hm...”

“I see. Ask Qrow for my number, and then you can call me back when it’s perhaps a bit more convenient.”

“Right. And thanks.”


End file.
